If you don't like my 'Where the Wild Things Are' review, well, tough

Warner Bros.Max (Max Records) hitches a ride on the back of the monster Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini) in the film "Where the Wild Things Are," which opens in theaters Friday.

My review of the new film adaptation of the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are" will be posted Friday morning, but I'll just say for now that it's a negative one. While I briefly considered going all mean and nasty with my review, I ultimately retreated from that extreme position since there are some aspects of the film that are accomplished, even if the movie overall is still a bust.

Taking a nominally gentler tone was also a calculated move on my part, given the public's intense interest in the "WTWTA" film. I didn't want to get besieged by comments from insulted readers, although I'm sure there will be some given the large numbers of people who have fond memories of the Maurice Sendak book.

The book is one thing, however, while the movie is something else entirely. It shouldn't be a given that affection for one is automatically transferred to the other. So folks, just because I think this movie is junk doesn't mean I'm saying your childhood was without value as well. I don't even know you.

I'm acquainted with one film journalist who apparently loved the "WTWTA" movie before it was even finished, such was his affection for this project, and he seems to be taking it as a personal insult that so many other film critics are expressing disappointment with the movie.

I know that feeling. There are a handful of motion pictures that I utterly, absolutely love. I not only love them, but consider them exceptional cinematic efforts, so when somebody badmouths, say, "Doctor Zhivago" (1965) or "Wet Hot American Summer" (2001), I am by turns convinced that they're idiots and then am saddled with momentary concern that I may in fact be the idiot.

More recently, I found myself in the critical minority on two films, the Coen brothers "A Serious Man" and the comedy "Zombieland." The Coens have their many converts, while I have generally been left cold by nearly all of their films, so that didn't concern me, but nearly everyone I know thought "Zombieland" hysterical. I found it abysmal. Have I no sense of humor, or am I the only one who does?

Ultimately, of course, it doesn't matter. There's no right or wrong here, but if you're one of those who goes to see "Where the Wild Things Are" and comes away smiling, well, that's your problem, not mine!

Finally, earlier this week I caught the best movie of the year, so far (admittedly, I still have a lot of significant films to see). "The Road" opens in theaters on Nov. 25.